Donations | Margie Murphy

Donations | Margie Murphy

Events

HPHA

Strawbridge Furniture donated by Margie Murphy

Margie Murphy restored a beautiful oak table which used to belong to Mrs Strawbridge and graciously donated it to HPHA.

HPHA member Margie Murphy - whose grandmother, Mrs Murphy, was the long time house manager for the Strawbridges and companion to Mrs Strawbridge - has restored a beautiful oak table which she has graciously donated to HPHA. The table was originally owned by Margaret Strawbridge and was use in one of the bedrooms of the Penrose Strawbridge House. Margie brought the table by last spring.

The table has a number of leaves and Margie has finally had a chance to bring the over so now the table is complete.

Margie has also donated 3 chairs which she had saved when the house was being cleaned out after Mrs Strawbridge passed away. These will need some restoration.

More info on the chairs after we do some research, but here's a little bit about the table:

The table was originally purchased from van Sciver Co of Camden, NJ – Brass tag on the inside of table. The table has four leaves. Those leaves were in a wooden holder with the manufacturer’s name stamped on the inside: Aulsbrook and Jones Furniture of Sturgis Michigan.

"Henry Aulsbrook was a cabinet maker born in England about 1810/11. By 1875, Aulsbrook moved his family the 250 miles from Plainfield, IL to Belle Plaine, IA, less than thirty miles away from the home of his brother-in-law Martin Smith, where Mary Prentice was living with her husband John. Henry Aulsbrook is listed among the Benton County businesses from the A.T. Andreas Illustrated Historical Atlas of the State of Iowa, 1875 as a furniture manufacturer operating in Belle Plaine. Henry was in business with Martin E. Ausbrook who subsequently became a successful furniture manufacturer in Sturgis, MI. Presumably, Mary Prentice Smith returned to Iowa with her son-in-law Henry Aulsbrook at the time of his move in 1875 and lived in Belle Plaine until her death a few years later on 28 August 1877. Henry Aulsbrook and Caroline his wife with son Julius are residing in Iowa Township, Benton County, IA at the time of the 1880 Census."

One of the chairs is a Quen Anne that was Mr. Strawbridge's favorite when reading in the library. We hope to restore this soon.